TOUR COST:
Per person sharing R20 653         includes tips & excludes air fares – see below
Single room supplement R5 795


AIR FARES:
From Cape Town to be announced
From Johannesburg to be announced
Terms & Conditions apply
Minimum 15 persons.

TOUR COST INCLUDES:

13 nights accommodation in Egypt as indicated + early check in & breakfast on arrival


4 Transfers in Cairo


2 Transfers in Luxor


1 Transfer in Aswan

2 Transfers in Abu Simbel


1 Transfer Cairo/Alexandria


1 Transfer Alexandria/Cairo


1 Half day tour Cairo - Citadel, Mohammed Aly Mosque, Coptic Hanging Church, St. Sergius Church, Ben Ezra Synagogue & Khan El Khalili Bazaars.


1 Full day tour Cairo - Pyramids, Sphinx, Valley Temple, Solar Boat, Saqqara & lunch at local restaurant


1 Full day tour Cairo - Egyptian Museum, El Refai Mosque, El Sultan Hassan Mosque & lunch at local restaurant


1 Half day tour Luxor - Medinet Habu, Ramesseum, Valley of the Queens, Deir el Medina


1 Full day tour Luxor - Abydos & Dendera – with box lunch


1 Full day tour Alexandria - Catacombs, Roman Theatre, Library, National Museum, Fort Qait Bey & lunch at restaurant


English speaking Egyptologist guide throughout the tour


Entrance fees & sightseeing per itinerary


All transfers & tours by air-conditioned vehicles


All main tips (drivers, guide, agents, restaurants, Nile cruise, airports in Egypt

TOUR COST EXCLUDES:

Visa (free to SA passports)


Visa handling charge


Drinks or any extras at hotels, restaurants, cruise ship or during tours


Travel insurance **

 

** Travel insurance is always recommended which provides cancellation cover from time of booking.


www.lemeridien-pyramids.com

www.sonesta.com/Luxor

www.fairmont.com/heliopolis-cairo

SUNDAY 06 APRIL 2014
Depart Cape Town or other centres to fly to Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport for your overnight flight to Cairo.
Dinner



MONDAY 07 APRIL Cairo
Arrive Cairo International Airport early morning when you will be met by a representative of our excellent agent who will assist you with our luggage and arrange your transfer to the 5 star Le Meridien Pyramids Hotel, or similar, situated close to the pyramids, where you are booked on a bed & breakfast basis.
You will have your room on arrival and can take breakfast.
After time to relax and refresh, you will enjoy a half day tour visiting Old Cairo and the Citadel overlooking the city, Mohammed Aly Mosque, Coptic St Sergius Church and the Hanging Church, Ben Ezra Synagogue and the famous medieval Khan el Khalili Bazaar. Overnight Cairo.
Breakfast



TUESDAY 08 APRIL  Cairo
Today there is a full day tour to the Giza Pyramids, the Sphinx qnd the Valley Temple. You will see the Great Pyramid and associated pyramids with the opportunity of entering one or other of the pyramids depending on availability. You also see the extraordinary Sun or Solar Boat of Khufu.
Lunch is included at a local restaurant. In the afternoon you will be driven out of Cairo and will enjoy a tour to the fascinating desert site of Saqqara where you can see the Step Pyramid, the first-ever pyramid and the vast funerary enclosure of pharaoh Djoser (c. 2600 BCE). You will also visit an Old Kingdom mastaba tomb Overnight Cairo.
Breakfast, Lunch

WEDNESDAY 09 APRIL
Cairo
This morning there is a visit to the wonderful Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, where you will see the fabulous gold treasures of the boy-king Tutankhamun and an antiquities collection spanning 7,000 years.  Lunch is included at a local restaurant.  In the afternoon there will be a walking tour of the historic and picturesque Islamic Cairo visiting El Refai Mosque, El Sultan Hassan Mosque. Overnight Cairo.
Breakfast, Lunch

THURSDAY 10 APRIL Cairo/Alexandria/Cairo
Today you have a full day tour by road to Alexandria, the Pearl of the Mediterranean. Your tour will take you along the Alexandria Desert Road and across the lagoon to the great city where you will visit the catacombs at Kom-el-Shoqafa which comprise a multi-level labyrinth, featuring dozens of chambers with sculpted pillars, statues, and other Romano-Egyptian religious symbols, burial niches, and sarcophagi, as well as a Roman-style banquet room, where memorial meals were conducted by relatives of the deceased.

You will also visit the Roman Amphitheatre and see a number of sculptures of Cleopatra’s time salvaged from the Eastern Harbour. Later you will enter the National Museum of Alexandria and the medieval Fort Qait Bey built on the site of the Pharos Lighthouse, one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. A highlight of the tour is a visit to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the modern equivalent of the Great Library, with its ground-breaking architectural design. Lunch is included at a local restaurant. Overnight Cairo. Btreakfast, Lunch

FRIDAY11 APRIL Cairo - Luxor
After breakfast you check out of the hotel and transfer to Cairo Airport for the short flight to Luxor where you will be met by our local agent and transferred to the 5 star riverside Sonesta St George Hotel, or similar, where you are booked on a bed & breakfast basis. Overnight Luxor.
Breakfast

SATURDAY RIDAY 12 APRIL Luxor
After a leisurely breakfast you will cross the Nile by the road-bridge to the West Bank to visit the huge temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu – this temple is second only to Karnak. Also there is a visit the memorial or funerary temple of Ramesses II (the Great) called the Ramesseum – it was this temple that inspired Percy Bysshe Shelley to write his famous poem Ozymandias.  There will be a tour to the Valley of the Queens where you will see incredible tomb paintings with colours as fresh as the day they were painted thousands of years before.  Also you visit the famous village of the tomb-workers at Deir el Medina with more astonishing tombs.

The afternoon is at leisure when you could visit the excellent Luxor Museum, have a preliminary visit to the massive Karnak Temple complex or a host of other activities, or just relax and enjoy the facilities of your riverside hotel. Overnight Luxor.
Breakfast.



SUNDAY 13 APRIL Luxor – Abydos & Dendera
Today there is a full day tour when you take a box lunch from your hotel and drive along the Nile Valley passing through villages and towns along the Nile valley to Abydos to visit the almost complete temple built by Seti I and after his death completed by his son Ramesses II. This temple is magnificent with its seven sanctuaries, and the finest limestone reliefs to be seen anywhere in Egypt – and there is also the mystifying Osireion at the rear of the temple.
The tour continues to another superb temple at Dendera dedicated to the goddess Hathor, one of the most popular deities with her association with love, music and intoxication! This Graeco-Roman temple displays intriguing architectural features including a mysterious crypt. You return to your hotel for a relaxing evening and overnight in Luxor.
Breakfast, lunch



MONDAY 14 APRIL Luxor & Nile Cruise
After breakfast you check out of the hotel and will be transferred to you 5 star de luxe Nile cruiser M/S Tower Prestige, or similar, for a memorable 4 night Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan on a full board basis commencing with lunch.
Today there will be a tour of Karnak Temple, the largest religious complex in the world with its forest of pillars, sacred lake, obelisks and massive reliefs and you will also visit the majestic riverside Luxor Temple.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Cruise itinerary may change in sequence due to navigational circumstances but all visits will take place

TUESDAY 15 APRIL Nile Cruise
Following breakfast you will travel by road to cross the Nile to the West Bank and visit the tombs of the great pharaohs in the famous Valley of the Kings, a World Heritage site. There will be the opportunity to visit 3 tombs and, if open, Tutankhamun’s tomb for which there is a separate charge at the site. You also visit the great terraced temple of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri and the Colossi of Memnon – giant statues of Amenhotep III.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner



WEDNESDAY 16 APRIL Nile Cruise
The Nile cruiser will sail southwards to Esna, where it passes through the lock and continue sailing south to the dusty town of Edfu where you visit the colossal Temple of Horus by horse carriage from the ship - this is the most complete temple of the ancient world.
Your cruise continues sailing to Kom Ombo, where it will moor, enabling you to visit the Ptolemaic temple with its dual dedication to the crocodile god Sobek and a falcon-headed god Re-Haroeris. The cruise continues southwards until you reach the picturesque town of Aswan.
During the cruise there is likely to be a traditional gallabiya party when everyone dresses Egyptian-style.
Items can be obtained inexpensively in the markets or sometimes hired on the boat. Overnight Aswan.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner



THURSDAY 17 APRIL Nile Cruise
After breakfast, you travel by road for a very short time to visit the famous Aswan High Dam which forms the 500km. long Lake Nasser and visit the ancient granite quarry with its 1,000 ton Unfinished Obelisk. Also, you cross the water by motor-boat to visit the elegant island Temple of Philae, dedicated to the supreme maternal goddess Isis. In the afternoon, sailing on a traditional felucca on the Nile, you will view Elephantine and Kitchener's Islands and the Aga Khan's Mausoleum from the river. Overnight Aswan.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner

FRIDAY 18 APRIL Aswan - Abu Simbel
This morning you say goodbye to your Nile cruiser after breakfast and transfer to Aswan Airport for the short flight south to Abu Simbel on Lake Nasser.
On arrival at Abu Simbel you will be met by our local agent and

will be transferred to the Seti First Abu Simbel Hotel where you are booked on a full board basis starting with lunch.
The afternoon is at leisure to enjoy the facilities of the hotel on the banks of Lake Nasser.
In the early evening you will be taken to see the fascinating Sound & Light Show at the temples of Abu Simbel. After the show you will be returned to the hotel for dinner. Overnight Abu Simbel.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

SATURDAY 19 APRIL Abu Simbel - Cairo
This morning you will visit the magnificent and iconic Sun Temple of Ramesses the Great with its four colossal figures of the seated pharaoh facing the rising sun. Also you visit the adjacent temple dedicated to Ramesses' Chief Wife, the beautiful and much-loved Nefertari.  Following the visits to these two temples you will be transferred to Abu Simbel Airport for your flight to Cairo.  On arrival in Cairo you will be transferred to Le Meridien Pyramids Hotel, or Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel, or similar, where you are booked on a bed & breakfast basis. Overnight Cairo.

Breakfast.

SUNDAY 20 APRIL Cairo
Today is at leisure for last minute shopping or any other optional activities.  You will have your hotel room until the mid-evening transfer to Cairo International Airport for your flight home. You will be assisted through the airport formalities by our agent.  There is a light late supper served on the aircraft after take-off.

Breakfast, late dinner on the flight.

MONDAY 21 APRIL Johannesburg - Cape Town or other centres
Arrive Johannesburg and transfer to flights for Cape Town and other centres.
Breakfast